My interview with @garyvee

So when I found out about his latest offer to his followers, I decided to jump on it. Some folks decided to do a full video or recording, but I decided to ask some questions on connecting and offer my three biggest take aways from our Q and A. So here we go, the top three things I learned from 15 minutes with Gary Vaynerchuk.

You get what you give- It seems like such a simple statement, but when you think about it, there are plenty of people out there who are wondering why they are not getting more from those they interact with. They may be asking why someone isn't buying what they are selling or why certain people won't take meetings with them, but what they should be asking is how much they have actually given. It's important to look at what we are doing for others before we get overly concerned about what is coming our way. The more value we add, the more opportunities we have.

If everyone else is giving free-shipping we need to "level up"- It's now expected in the world of customer service to offer some type of perk, but that isn't going to break through the clutter. The question we now have to ask is how are we going to take our service to another level? How can we surprise those we work with? What can we offer that comes from our own spring of creativity? Anybody can write a thank you note, but not everyone will take the time to look at the details of that note. What if the note was on a can of someone's favorite soda? What if you got a box of chocolates from someone that spelled the words Thank You when you opened them? I know I am going to continue to think of ways I can "level up" in my own practice with the people I connect with.

Authenticity is Oxygen- This was probably my favorite quote from the entire conversation. In a world where everything we do is seen via Twitter, Instagram, Facebook etc. there is very little chance for anyone to do something on the sly. Therefore, if you are not authentic in all of your interactions, you are killing your business and your brand. It's a very strong image and very true that if we are not authentic in our relationships and up front about our intentions, then we are going to lose. So take the time today to think about authenticity. Is everything that you have in your business something that you are able to deliver on? More importantly can you over deliver?